One Week
by Topaz Kat
Summary: Something's up with White Blaze and the boyz don't know what.
1. Sunday

One Week-Sunday  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Boyz or White Blaze, I'm just messing with them for a little while and I promise to return them to Bandai eventually and relatively unharmed.  
  
  
  
Cye walked himself downstairs, stretching as he went. It was a lovely day out already and from what the forecast said, it would stay that way. He looked out the kitchen window, pleased as punch to see the clear blue sky and the green leafy trees surrounding the lake, maybe he'd convince the others to go out so that they could all have a grand time playing in the water for the first time that summer. It would have to wait until everyone was up and awake, but that shouldn't be too much longer now.  
  
Walking into the living room with his cup of coffee, Cye decided to sit out on the front porch swing. It was just too lovely to stay inside today. Besides, he thought it would be nice to listen to the birds serenade him while he sat and thought.  
  
A moment later, the house was rocked with a loud, horrified scream. "RYO!" the shout could be heard coming from the red headed warrior.  
  
Sage had sat up an instant, having been no where near as tired as his black haired kitten the night before. The bar worked at as a bartender had been jumping horrendously last night, and by the time Sage had gotten there to pick him up and take him home, Ryo was ready to collapse.  
  
Sage grabbed one of the silk robes lying on the chair next to his bed; not caring if it was his or Ryo's and stormed down the stairs to bitch at Cye. When he had first been awoken by the scream, he had thought that something had attacked the barer of Torrent, but after doing a quick mental scan, he could detect no one else on their mountain. He found Cye in shock, leaning against the door with his two lovers standing beside him, trying to calm him down. Kento was holding onto him and whispering soothing things in his ear and Rowen was busy rubbing gentle circles on his back, unfortunately, the eldest of the lot of them was still quite frightened by something.  
  
"Cye," he snarled viciously. "You had better have one hell of damn good reason for making me try to wake up Ryo. Or at the very least, a damn good reason for me not to pound you into the ground head-first."  
  
Cye pulled away, looking shaky. "You'll see," was all he said as he pulled the door back open.  
  
Outside on the front lawn was body of deer, next to it was another deer, and next to that was a third. In front of the deer, there were several dozen rabbits and even a few small birds. The macabre line was leading up to the front door where White Blaze stood quite happily wagging his tail.  
  
Rowen took the seen in and whistled appreciatively, "Not bad -Blaze, are all these presents for us then?"  
  
In response, White Blaze licked Cye's hand and nuzzled his massive head into disgusted Ronin.  
  
"Oh I see," Rowen said with a smile, he must have heard you bitching about not having time to get the groceries, so he went out and got us some food. That's very nice White Blaze. Don't you think you should say 'thank you' Cye? I mean, he did get all of these critters for you."  
  
Cye looked out over the scene before him and whimpered. "Why couldn't you have been a mystic wolf or something huh?" he asked as he scratched the huge head in reply. "They don't leave humans offerings of devotion. Oh, all those poor animals."  
  
Kento tried very hard not to brake out into laughter, "Look at it this way, Cye, we'll have enough venison for the entire winter and Rowen can make that stew you love so much."  
  
Ryo came down the steps, looking much disheveled and very tired. "What's all the noise about?" he asked through a yawn. The first scream had finally made its way through his ears and to his brain.  
  
Cye stormed towards him in a huff, "You," he started, looking very annoyed and making exasperated fists. "You and your cat!" With that he ran up the stairs very quickly, just trying to get away from the disaster that was the front yard, all his plans for the day ruined.  
  
Ryo walked forwards towards the others and buried his face in Sage's chest, moaning. "What did I do now Sage?"  
  
Sage wrapped his arms tenderly around his lover and hugged him. "It's not you, just White Blaze being a large cat." He gestured to the lawn that had turned into an above-ground cemetery. "He brought home presents. I suggest that you get to the skinning at some point, but, Kento and I can move them first. You need to go sleep for a while more; I'm not letting you anywhere near a knife."  
  
Ryo pouted, "Why do I always have to be the one to skin stuff, and not just the stuff that White Blaze brings home on occasion?"  
  
"Well, for one thing," Rowen said with a grin as he walked into the kitchen to get some sugared coffee. "It is your cat."  
  
"White Blaze isn't mine, he found me. Besides, we all take care of him, or had you forgotten."  
  
"And," Rowen continued, not at all bothered by the small interruption. "You're the only one who can without throwing up a bunch of times." His grin was wicked. "Come on, you know the rules. White Blaze hunts it, you skin it, and I'll cook it. Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I save you some of the rabbit that you can grill, Pyro." He gave an affectionate smile at the nickname he'd given Ryo a long time ago.  
  
Ryo just nodded his head in defeat. "All right, I'll do it. I'm just surprised, he's never brought anything back from his hunts before, have you big guy?" He patted White Blaze on the head, wondering what had gotten into the large beast.  
  
"I'm willing to bet that he heard Cye moaning about not getting the groceries in time and decided to take it upon himself to get us food." Kento explained. "It could be worse though, remember the one time during last winter when he couldn't find any food and went into town to that pet shop?"  
  
Ryo just shook his head tiredly as Rowen mimicked the panicked store owner, "'My GOD, Friskies tm were EVERYWHERE!'" 


	2. Monday

One Week-Monday  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Boyz or White Blaze, I'm just messing with them for a little while and I promise to return them to Bandai eventually and relatively unharmed.  
  
  
  
Ryo yawned and stretched from where he stood in the living room. He had just finished his swim for the day, trying to re-energize himself. Work had been hell at the bar he worked at all last week, and this week was going to suck as well. Between making ten complicated drinks at the same time and fighting with the occasional drunk customer who was bothering any of the performers, he was wiped out. He had hoped a brisk swim would help him wake up from what would have been a sleepy afternoon, but to no avail.  
  
He took the towel that he had grabbed and quickly rubbed it through his hair, towel drying it into a tangled mess. He felt a cool, wet nose in the middle of his back and turned to see White Blaze standing behind him, regarding him curiously. "Hey -Blaze," he offered with a smile. "We're all set for food, believe me; I had the misfortune of skinning your kills. So you don't need to go out and hunt down any extra food, okay big guy?"  
  
Ryo turned back to what he was doing, once again glad that he was the only one in the house at the moment, he could drip on the carpet and there was no one around to yell at him. Sage was off helping out at the dojou, Cye and Rowen both had classes, and Kento had gone to take inventory at one of many of his mother's restaurants.  
  
Ryo let out a light shout when he felt a rough tongue scrap across his lower back. "Ow, -Blaze, I don't need another bath, okay, I've already had two."  
  
He didn't get very far at all. White Blaze barely had two steps before pinning down one of his many charges. All it took for the great beast was biting onto Ryo's swim trunks and pulling him down. The large animal walked over the fallen body of the barer of wildfire and gently nudged his head up at the base of his neck before he licked the black haired boy's neck.  
  
Ryo tried to wiggle out of the way of the rough tongue, only to find that one very heavy paw was placed in the middle of his back. The harsh tongue scrapped along his neck, shoulders, and even a good chunk of his back, thoroughly giving him the lick bath that so many kits fought against to begin with.  
  
What's gotten into White Blaze? Ryo wondered between wincing as layers off flesh were being pulled away. Well, maybe not pulled away, but thoroughly washed.  
  
Ryo let out a loud yelp at one point when White Blaze's rough tongue swabbed along the delicate skin of the back of his arms. Again, he tried to get away, but was unable to do so until the large tiger decided that he was clean enough to let go of. By that point however, a good part of Ryo's back and shoulders were a little more on the raw side do to the sandpaperery feel of the sponge that had just given on of his most thorough baths ever.  
  
  
  
Rowen walked into the house, glad that his classes were done with for the night. Now, all he had to do was make dinner for the remaining Ronins and then study for a little bit, he had a big test on Friday to look forward to. He waved at White Blaze as he walked by, trying to decide what he wanted to do first. It had already been a long day, and he couldn't decide if he wanted a nap, a snack, or maybe a swim.  
  
He was barely surprised to see Ryo's swimming trunks and towel in the bathroom as he entered to get a glass of water. What did surprise him however, was the tube of cream used for dealing with rashes, gashes and scraps. I hope Ryo didn't fall down the hill side into the lake, that would hurt, the blue haired archer thought as he put the cream away. Still, it was a small mystery that nagged at the back of his mind as he came out from the restroom.  
  
White Blaze stood before him, blocking the entrance to the kitchen. "Look -Blaze, we both know the rules, right? I'm not allowed to feed you after you've gone hunting. So why don't you just go outside if you're hungry and get yourself something to eat." The large cat didn't budge an inch. "All right, suite yourself, but when I'm back from getting a swim, you had better be out of the way tiger."  
  
Rowen was startled to see White Blaze still in front of the doorway a few minutes later when he came downstairs from his, Cye's, and Kento's room. He too had plans for a refreshing swim, just like Ryo had earlier. This time, instead of the tiger stalking his victim from behind, he just patiently walked towards Rowen.  
  
The slender youth started to walk backwards, feeling suddenly nervous about the way that White Blaze was approaching him. It wasn't hard for the large animal to first pin Rowen up against a wall and then knock him over and pin him down by placing a large paw on his stomach.  
  
The blue haired boy was almost petrified with fright until he felt the first swipe of the rough tongue against his neck. A startled shout escaped his lips, surprised to feel the skin being tugged on as he was bathed by the giant furball. I think I know why Ryo needed the scrap cream now, Rowen thought with a moan. I just wish that I hadn't had to experience it to find out as well.  
  
  
  
Sage looked up from his book in time to see Ryo shut the door to their room. The blonde was hardly surprised to see that his lover looked haggard. "Hey, Kitty, you alive more or less?"  
  
"Not fully no," was the tired response. Ryo walked over and fell onto their bed face first, laying on top of the sheets without thought or care. He jumped a little when Sage placed a comforting hand on his back.  
  
Sage put his book down and gave him a thoughtful look. "All right, what's got you so skittery?"  
  
Ryo pulled off his vest from work, displaying the loving red marks that were left over from being pounced on by White Blaze earlier that afternoon. "-Blaze decided that I needed a bath for some reason. I don't get it, he's never done that before."  
  
"Never?" Sage asked. "Are you sure? He gave another one to Rowen earlier today. Maybe he just thought that you both needed to be taken care of."  
  
"Yeah, but White Blaze has never been that maternal, it's weird."  
  
"Well," Sage began as he kissed his lover on the cheek. "You and Rowen are the youngest, maybe he just thought that you needed someone to look after you for a little." Then he chuckled, "although I do have to say that I wish it was me who gave you the bath instead."  
  
Ryo glared playfully at him, "Just you wait, you'll get yours, you'll see." 


	3. Tuesday

One Week-Tuesday  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Boyz or White Blaze, I'm just messing with them for a little while and I promise to return them to Bandai eventually and relatively unharmed.  
  
  
  
Kento yawned and stretched, looking up at the beautiful blue sky. Soft, puffy clouds were rolling along, minding their own business on the light breezy day. He was glad to be outside and enjoying nature at its best. Below him, the ground would shift every so often and ever so slightly. If he closed his eyes, the barer of diamond was fairly sure that he could feel the earth rotate on its axis.  
  
When he opened his eyes again, he let out a light yelp as he peered up into big brown eyes that reflected his face back at him. He smiled though and reached up to scratch White Blaze behind the ear. "Hey there big guy, how's it going? You know, I really don't think that Ro and Ryo needed any bathes yesterday, but if you were concerned, I sure as hell ain't going to be the one to argue with you. They're both feeling better now anyway, all the scraps are all healed up.  
  
"And we have lots of food for the next three months or so, so you needn't worry your massive head about that. By the way, Cye's finally stopped pouting. He's discovered that he loves the way that Rowen cooks some of the birds that you brought back.  
  
"As for me, I'm all set, you don't need to worry about me or Sage, we're both fine."  
  
  
  
Kento was glad, surprised, and a little on the hurt side when White Blaze didn't seem to fight with him about getting in the lake. He had thought that was why the large beast had been so concerned with Ryo and Rowen earlier and that was why he gave them the baths, but it appeared that that wasn't the case. Oh well, the indigo haired warrior thought, at least he thinks that I'm clean.  
  
Below him in the water, deep under the surface, Kento spotted a pretty rock. Already from this distance was it sparkling a brilliance that he associated with most polished rocks. He took a deep breath and dived under, trying to reach out and touch the beauty. It ended up taking him a few tries, but he finally brought up the rock and called White Blaze over to look at it.  
  
The large tiger walked over calmly and with a very amused smile on its face, as if it was placating to a small and demanding child. Well, at least that was what it looked like to Kento and he had seen that same look in the eyes of his mother on many occasions when she was dealing with his little brothers and sisters. But cat's couldn't smile, could they?  
  
White Blaze sat down at the water's edge and looked interested as Kento prattled on and on about the dark blue iridescent rock.  
  
"See -Blaze, when you turn it like this, the light blue flecks in it come out a lot more and the shimmer almost. You know, if I polish this up and ground it down, I bet we can turn it into a collar or some sort for you, would you like that, big guy?"  
  
White Blaze raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'what do you think?' Kento just laughed, yeah, I guess you're right, you would look pretty silly with a rock hanging off of your neck. But it's so pretty, I got to do something with it. Any ideas?" Kento shook his head then, feeling silly. "I'm talking to a tiger, what am I doing?"  
  
A sudden thought came to his head then. The almost unbidden pictures came to his mind's eye. They were the sweetest images of Cye and Rowen popped in without hesitation. Cye was curled up in a blanket, huddled underneath it with a cup of black tea in his hands, the firelight glowing behind him. Rowen was just as unguarded, eyes bright and his hand hiding his smile.  
  
Kento looked at the rock again, and noticed something he hadn't before. The two blues of the rock were very similar to blues of their armours. And then it dawned on him; this rock would look gorgeous set in a copper ring. He had one too, he'd set it aside a while ago, waiting to find a large enough rock that he could practice his lapidary skills on it. Why had he waited so long? Because that ring was going to be one of the rare pieces that he made for himself.  
  
Kento smiled a large grin and turned to look at White Blaze, "I know what I'm going to do with it -Blaze, I'll make something for myself. It'll at least shut up Ro and Cye for a while huh?" he asked as he scritched the large critter's ears. "Besides, they're always nagging at me to make something for myself. It's okay for me to be a little selfish once in a while, right?"  
  
Kento rubbed his shoulder where White Blaze had gently thwapped it with his massive paw. "Yeah, you're right. It's not selfish." Kento climbed out of the lake, wanting to get to work on his new project as soon as possible. "See you later -Blaze."  
  
  
  
It didn't dawn on Kento until much later to wonder why it looked as if the images of Rowen and Cye that had been in his head appeared as if they were being reflected in White Blaze's large brown eyes. 


	4. Wednesday

One Week-Wednesday  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Boyz or White Blaze, I'm just messing with them for a little while and I promise to return them to Bandai eventually and relatively unharmed.  
  
  
  
Sage lifted up his practice sword and started one of the more advanced katas that he had learned a while ago from his grandfather. It involved a great deal of concentration and focused, mostly because it incorporated several different forms of slashes, guards, and thrusts. He was practicing outside to avoid the distractions that would occur in the house's practice room. Cye was busy in there working with the bo for the first time in a while. While the red haired warrior was not a violent person in his nature, he did need his own space to focus on his moves every once in a while. Having been raised in a dojo for his entire life, Sage not only understood the need for solitude while practicing some of the more intrinsic martial arts, he respected them.  
  
The blonde wince when he heard Kento's lapidary stool start to work. The damn thing was noisy, why couldn't he wait until Cye was finished downstairs so that he wouldn't bother him? Oh well, it didn't really concern him, and Cye was more than capable of handling either one of his lovers just fine without any form of assistance.  
  
He took out a step and started, focusing on each part and what each movement meant by itself and as a part of the whole. It always amazed him how each piece by itself with a mere practice sword was almost useless, but when everything was put together, the form could become a deadly dance with the keenest of blades.  
  
He heard a light chuffing sound and turned to see White Blaze staring at him. He bowed a pleasant "hello" to the tiger and set about his business. Another reason why he had wanted to practice today was that he needed some time by himself to figure out what was going on with the beast's strange behavior. The hunting in itself was unusual, but then to follow that with tongue baths and what Kento swore to be telepathy, it was all very curious indeed.  
  
Sage had known for a long time that there was more to White Blaze then some simple tiger. He could see it in the tiger's brown eyes whenever something happened to any of them, but especially Ryo. For instance, no simple tiger would risk its life over a sword that could be used with the white armour, but White Blaze had. Also, no normal tiger would be likely to play soccer or give people rides when they needed to go somewhere and get there quickly.  
  
He took another step, pausing in his inner monologue to focus all of his attention on what he was doing. A quick spin and a sharp thrust made his blood start to pound and he looked up to see the beast in question shaking his massive head at him.  
  
"What is it?" he asked with a smile. Okay, so he was talking to a tiger, Ryo wasn't the only one that White Blaze would communicate with on more mental level. "Don't think that I'm doing it right, is that it?"  
  
The tiger blinked his eyes slowly, giving Sage what the blonde would have sworn to be a "no shit Sherlock" look. However, instead of continuing to chide him in his movements, the large animal just turned his head, still keeping one eye on the practice session and faked falling asleep.  
  
Sage just sighed and shook his head, amused at watching what he often considered to be Ryo's walking blanket take a short nap. He turned back to his kata, resuming where he had stopped not only in his motions, but his thoughts as well.  
  
Considering that he had the ancestry and the knowledge of mystic things, Sage had honestly felt that he would be able to solve the puzzle of the family friend much more easily then he was. He knew that deep down inside, he just didn't have all the pieces yet to the strange brainteaser, and that he would need a key piece before he would have any chance at all of solving the conundrum.  
  
He also knew that if he hadn't been focusing so much on the problem with the tiger and paying more attention to where his feet were going, he wouldn't have found that still-wet from the dew spot in the lawn and performed a rather painful split. Sure, doing a normal split was no problem for the graceful blonde, when he was expecting it. But when he wasn't they would be just as likely to tear or strain a muscle in his thigh as they would anybody else's.  
  
He let out a pained gasp and tried to pull himself back upright. He didn't notice that White Blaze had gotten up from his shady spot to investigate what had caused the normally very focused Sage to falter in his practice. The tiger sniffed at Sage's leg where the injury had occurred, making the blonde wonder if he could somehow sense exactly what had happened and how.  
  
The tiger looked up at him and gently shook its large head in light disappointment, the way that a parent would look at their child while asking "why did you do that?" Sage was about to scold the tiger when he felt himself being actually lifted up as the large beast simply walked between his legs and pushed him up high onto his back.  
  
Of all the undignified positions to be stuck riding a tiger on, Sage thought, why did he have to chose this one? He couldn't see that he was being taken to the house, lying on his stomach facing the opposite direction as he was, but he knew that that was where he was going. He could just hear the snickers now. Graceful Sage falls flat on his face, he thought bitterly.  
  
Ryo let out a surprised gasp as White Blaze walked through the door, carrying Sage on his back. He wondered what had happened to his lover, having known that he had just been outside for a while, practicing. "Are you okay Sage?"  
  
The blonde both sighed and winced as he pulled himself up onto the couch that White Blaze had stopped in front of. "Yes, I just pulled a muscle, that's all."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Inner thigh, can you go get me some ice please, I need to stretch it out a little before I can start to rub it back to normal."  
  
"Sure, I'll be back in just a second."  
  
Sage looked down at White Blaze, who was still giving him that same look as when he first got hurt. "You can quit saying 'I told you so' any time now." 


	5. Thursday and Friday

???????+???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????? One Week-Thursday  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Boyz or White Blaze, I'm just messing with them for a little while and I promise to return them to Bandai eventually and relatively unharmed.  
  
  
  
Cye walked into the living room, stretching on this lovely afternoon. Ryo had just rushed out the door, hopped onto his bike and drove off to get to the bar in time for his shift. Sage was still upstairs resting the pulled thigh muscle. Rowen was still away at classes and wouldn't be home for a while yet. And Kento was off in the garage working on that lovely rock he'd found earlier that week. This all meant that he had a great chunk of time to himself for the first time in a long time.  
  
He grabbed the book that he had found earlier that day, it was a rare indulgence that he could dabble in every once in a while. He knew it was a silly thing, but he did like the occasional, well-written romance novel. He sat down to read his book, pulling back the long drapes on the window seat and was surprised to see some tearing on bottom of the one in his hand.  
  
He dropped his book onto the floor, forgetting about it momentarily and pulled the curtain up to get a better look at the now destroyed edge. He could clearly see that there was some horrendous tearing. Caused by what, he wasn't so sure. At first it looked as if some mice or something had gotten to the fabric and had chewed their way up it somewhat, which didn't make much sense since they had never had mice in the house. But as he studied it longer, he realized that the ragged edges were not made by teeth, but by claws.  
  
His head came up sharply and he started to look around for the only one he could think of treacherous enough to destroy defenseless drapery. "White Blaze, where the Hell are you?"  
  
He wandered through the house, looking high and low for the tiger. This was simply the last straw and he wasn't going to put up with anything anymore. He understood that something strange was happening with the furry being, but he didn't care anymore, he had loved those drapes.  
  
He finally found his target lying in the living room, wrapped in some of the boys' dirty laundry. Well, sort of wrapped up in it. He'd somehow managed to pull up the sleeves of two shirts up his front legs and had one hind foot in a pair of jeans. Lying over top of him was one of Kento's huge old fluffy bathrobes.  
  
Cye opened his mouth to start yelling at the giant furball and quickly realized that nothing he did would be able to reach him. The tiger was out cold, dead asleep to the outside world. He knelt down next to the body and gently rubbed the large cheek comfortingly.  
  
"Hey there pal, are you feeling all right?"  
  
  
  
Ryo arrived home that night to see White Blaze still wrapped up, but this time he was moved closer to the fire, hoping that he would stay warm.  
  
Friday  
  
Ryo was glad for the call from his boss early that afternoon. He didn't need to come in to work either that night or the next night. They were closing the bar for the next few days in observance for some obscure holiday that nobody ever heard of. At least that was the excuse he had been given. Ryo knew that that was the only way his boss could justify giving him the next two days off to look after White Blaze. That was a problem with being the only bartender, no one else was nutty enough to handle the huge place by themselves.  
  
Ryo was sitting next to White Blaze rubbing him softly. He finally ended up curling up into the large body, feeling for the first time that he was actually helpless. He hoped that in trying to snuggle the large creature, the tiger could somehow feel his body heat coming though in a supportive hug. Sage had tried earlier to explain that the only thing they could do was watch and make sure White Blaze didn't get any worse, but he didn't want to believe that.  
  
Sage came back downstairs when seven o'clock rolled around. The others had actually already gone to bed, too worried to eat or do anything. He picked up his own sleeping lover, accidentally disturbing the tiger. White Blaze actually opened one eye, blinking questioningly at him.  
  
"I figured that he should sleep in his own bed," he explained as he reached out and pet the tiger himself. "Feeling any better?"  
  
The tiger yawned, showing off huge teeth and got up and stretched, he had that same smiling expression on his face. He winked at Sage and walked out of the room, heading off outside to get some food for himself.  
  
Having decided that he could tell the others in the morning, Sage went upstairs with his lover and straight to bed. He figured that they had all been so worried during the week that they could use a night's rest before trying to figure out what exactly had happened later.  
  
  
  
TK- I realize that there are some questions that have yet to be explained, don't worry, they'll be answered. 


	6. Saturday

One Week-Saturday Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Boyz or White Blaze, I'm just messing with them for a little while and I promise to return them to Bandai eventually and relatively unharmed.  
  
  
  
When Ryo woke up, the first thing he realized was that he was snuggling up against Sage rather than White Blaze. He frowned at his boyfriend and leaned over to nip at his neck, waking him up sharply. Sage slowly opened up his grey-violet orbs and frowned at his kitten, Ryo knew that he hated to have his neck licked at.  
  
"What's the matter with you?" Ryo snapped, making Sage raise an eyebrow. "I was trying to look after -Blaze you know. What gives you the right to decide when I need to leave someone alone while they're suffering?"  
  
"He wasn't suffering, only sleeping. Besides, as soon I moved you, he woke up."  
  
Ryo's eyes opened wide and he sat up, ignoring the fact that he wasn't wearing anything. "Why didn't you tell me?" He ran towards the door, only to feel a sharp tug on his hair. He stopped instantly, rubbing at where his hair had been yanked.  
  
Sage got up, pulling on his bathrobe and handing Ryo his. "Let's go wake up the others first, then we can all make sure that White Blaze is fine. Okay?"  
  
Ryo nodded, admitting defeat. "But I want to go make sure he's all right."  
  
"If he could get up by himself, which he did; and wink at me, which he did; and walk out on his own, which he did; I think he'll be fine."  
  
Knocking on the other bedroom, they heard several groans followed by gasps at the realization that they had completely over-slept. Kento opened the door quickly, looking at Sage and Ryo and nodded a quick good morning. "Is there any news on the fuzzball?'  
  
Ryo nodded gladly, "Sage says that he woke up last night."  
  
"Oh good," Cye let out a relieved breath. "I felt so guilty for trying to yell at him while he was sick."  
  
"You never feel that if you yell at any of us when we're sick," Rowen teased as he pushed pass. He wanted to see how the tiger was just as much as the rest of them.  
  
"That's because you can defend yourself," Cye explained haughtily as he pushed pass.  
  
Ryo jumped onto the banister and slid down. "He has sharp claws and teeth, not to mention a really sandpapery tongue. I don't think he's defenseless Cye."  
  
Cye crossed his arms and glared at him. Then he turned the glare onto Sage, "I thought that you said you'd get him to stop doing that, it ruins the finish."  
  
"I fail to see how," Sage muttered as he walked down the steps.  
  
"But he might get a splinter in his butt, or some other sensitive place."  
  
"Ryo, don't do that again," Sage warned sharply.  
  
Ryo just rolled his eyes from where he was at the bottom of the stairs. "Yes Sage. Now can we go check on White Blaze, please?"  
  
They heard a slight chuckle coming from the library then, making them all stop in there tracks. Temporarily forgetting that they were only wearing bathrobes or night clothes, the fearless Ronins set off to find the intruder.  
  
In the library, they saw a hand reaching up to retrieve yet another book and place it in a huge pile. The hand was fine and graceful, with fingernails that couldn't rightly be called nails, more like claws. They were painted black and they belonged to a man they had never seen before. He was tall, so tall that Kento's old bathrobe seemed to just barely come past his mid-thighs. He was very pale, as if he had been kept inside his whole life; stranger still was that his long hair was blacker than even Ryo's. It made a very striking image to say the least.  
  
The man turned then to regard them all. Strong, tender, brown eyes focus straight ahead, not blinking, waiting for the explosion.  
  
"Wh- who are you?" Ryo was the first to speak, hardly surprising. "What are you doing in our home?"  
  
"Well, at the moment, I am trying to catch up on the last eon or so. But right now." the man frowned as he trailed off and he went over to the glass of water that was sitting nearby, one of the ones from the kitchen. He dipped a napkin in it and walked back over, stopping in front of Ryo. Gently, he reached out and held Ryo's face while he washed away the semi- permanent dirt that was always on the boy's cheek. "There," he smiled. "That is better now. Rowen, could you come here too please, you have a smudge below your eye from lunch yesterday."  
  
Rowen couldn't help but remain still, his mouth agape as the man proceeded to wash his face too. When the tall man had finished, he looked at Sage and Cye, "I do not understand why it is you let them get so dirty."  
  
Cye's mouth opened and closed several times, Sage just remained quiet, trying to figure out all that he'd seen thus far. Finally, Cye shouted, "Who are you damnit?"  
  
The man's head went back a little, surprised at the outburst. "I bring you back enough venison to last you a winter and you swear at me? I never realized you were such an ungrateful child."  
  
He continued to shake his head disapprovingly, and then his attention turned to Kento, who was standing behind the others a little. "I hope that you do not mind me borrowing the old bathrobe. I do not have anything to wear exactly. Oh, how is that rock you found coming along?"  
  
Kento blinked, surprised. "Um, okay. It's mostly ground down, all I have to do is polish it up now."  
  
"That is good." Again, his attention shifted, this time looking at Sage. "Well, have you figured it out yet, mister-I-should-know-what-is-going-on?"  
  
"White Blaze," Sage answered very softly. "You're White Blaze."  
  
The man nodded; the familiar doting look that parents reserve for stupid children on his face. "That is very good. Do you see now why it is important to pay attention to your surroundings?"  
  
Sage blushed a little, recalling how his grandfather used to ask him that an awful lot. It seems that sometimes, he still didn't pay full attention. He nodded back, "yes, I understand."  
  
The man smiled. Then he turned his back on them, grabbing his latest stack of books and went to go sit down on the nice leather couch. "I would like to finish this one book if you do not mind, before I answer any more questions."  
  
The boys stood there, staring at the man that they had all learned to be known as White Blaze, confused beyond belief. What was going on exactly? That White Blaze had been turned from beloved tiger to strange man sitting there and reading through their books as if he couldn't quit.  
  
Ryo studied the man before him, he seemed elegant in his long frame and had a beauty about him that he would have typically reserved for some sort of extremely-well-to-do woman, or even a fairy from folk tales. The man's beauty was ethereal, how could he possibly be the beloved tiger he had known not only throughout his training and since then, but whom he'd caught glimpses of as a child. He leaned against the wall, not fully comprehending and wishing for all the world that he could believe it was really him.  
  
Cye bustled about in the kitchen, readying up breakfast for him and the others. Miso soup was easy enough, he often made one huge pot and they'd eat out of it during the week. The rice maker was almost always on, now all he needed were the raw eggs to put over it.  
  
He quickly fixed the five meals for himself and the others and was about to crack open the last of the eggs to make into a raw, scrambled treat for the family tiger when he recalled that said tiger was now human and in the library reading history books. Since it was dangerous for humans to eat raw eggs really, he simply made up another bowl, this one a little larger than the others, of fried rice and dumped the raw egg on it. The rice, being as hot as it was, quickly cooked the raw egg into a scrambled form. He placed the bowl with some chopsticks across the top and carried it out to the man.  
  
"I thought you could use some breakfast," he said gently as he placed the tray on the side table. "By the way, thank you for the venison, we had some the other night, it was wonderful."  
  
The man looked up from his current book, turning another page and raised an eyebrow at the eldest of what he considered to be his litter. "I am glad to see your manners have returned. Thank you for breakfast; is this the egg and rice thing that you are always having?"  
  
"Yes," Cye nodded. "I hope you remember how to use chopsticks," he teased.  
  
The man quirked a smile, "It may be a while child, since I was last human, but it is hard to forget how to use them."  
  
"So it's sort of like riding a bicycle, then?"  
  
The man nodded, "I do not like those contraptions, but I can see where they are useful."  
  
He went back to reading for a while longer, very aware that while the others were busy eating breakfast, he was being stared at by his charge, Ryo. He figured that now would be as good a time as any to address the confusion of the most sensitive of the litter and motioned him over. "I do not know this current form of Japanese as well, what does this word say and what does it mean?"  
  
Ryo sat down and took the book, looking at where the man had motioned with the long claw. He nodded and quickly explained what the word was made up of and what it now meant. "Why are you trying to read so much?"  
  
"As the tiger, my mind's attention based mostly on motion, and as a result, I cannot read because my attention wanders very quickly."  
  
Ryo blushed, "So that's how you were always able to kick my butt at soccer."  
  
"Well, that and having four feet verses two is a definite advantage. I also had greater control than you."  
  
Ryo flushed fiercely. "That was a low blow," he muttered, remember the time he'd accidentally hit the Ancient in the head with an uncontrolled kick to the soccer ball. "Would you like us to read to you from time to time then?"  
  
The man thought a moment, and then nodded his head. "Yes, that would work very well I think. Thank you very much. I think that will help me to focus on the world around me a little better."  
  
Ryo could feel the man's fingers gently running through his hair. He was still unsure what to make of everything, and was just to voice his concerns when the man smiled at him tenderly and kissed his forehead in paternal fashion.  
  
"You had that familiar look of nervousness on your face. What would you like to know?"  
  
"When did this happen?"  
  
"What, my shifting of forms? Ever since the armors first picked their wearers. I lost my son to the first red armor, so I decided to let the Ancient one to transform my body so that I would be able to watch over the children who were picked."  
  
"Your son was Hariel?"  
  
"Is that what you were told his name was? His name is Shinta, not Hariel. at least not to me at any rate."  
  
"Was he very young or something?"  
  
"He was fifteen, a little older than you and your companions were when the armors picked you. But he was my son, and I was not quite willing to let him go to his death if I could not prevent it."  
  
"I had no idea," Ryo whispered.  
  
"Well of course you did not, the man who taught you never even knew. It is not something that I can talk of often since I only shift to my human form every once in a while."  
  
"Can you think like a human in your tiger form?"  
  
The man laughed gently. "There is no difference between myself as the tiger and myself as the man. I have a somewhat harder time concentrating on human issues such as focus and memory, and I am subject to deeper instincts, buy for the most part I am the same."  
  
"So is that why you gave Rowen and me baths?"  
  
"I was curious about that too." Rowen mentioned as he sat down on the floor. The others had joined them, wanting to hear the man's story. Sage handed Ryo a bowl of food and sat down next to him, knowing that his lover had missed breakfast for confusion of the man that they were gathering to listen to now.  
  
The man flushed a little along his cheek bones. "About a week before I can change back to the human side of myself, I have surges of both feline- tiger instincts and human instincts. You and Rowen received baths because I thought you were in need of it."  
  
"But I'd just come out of the water," Ryo pointed out.  
  
The tiger in man form thought on this for a moment before replying. "I suppose you are right. I guess that I decided that the lake did not do a good job on cleaning you very well."  
  
"Was the hunting kick also a tiger instinct that you had to answer to?" Cye asked, still shuddering at the sight he'd opened the door to on Sunday.  
  
"Well, you are my litter; I should keep an eye out and feed you when necessary."  
  
"'Your litter'?" Rowen asked. "You consider us to be your litter, but I thought male cats didn't concern themselves with raising the cubs."  
  
The man nodded his head, "that is usually true, but male tigers and male lions will help to take care of the litter for at least until the mother is able to hunt on her own for the cubs. In my case, I have always considered every group who wears the armors as my children. The only problem is that I remember them after they have died a little too clearly."  
  
"How many of us have there been?" Kento asked.  
  
"More then I care to count," was the sad reply.  
  
"What do we call you when you're like this?" Sage asked.  
  
"What you feel like. I do not remember my given name anymore, so I do not truly care since I am only human for one day."  
  
"You said that you get moments of human instincts," Kento began. "Was that what that was when you were watching me swim the one day? It felt as if you were trying to communicate."  
  
"That would be a fair approximate, during the times of the surges, I can use a form of mental telepathy sometimes, although it is more of planting an idea into the head of someone."  
  
"What about when you were carrying me?" Sage asked.  
  
"That was a combination of both instincts I think. The admonishment was a human instinct, along with carrying you, but the amusement was purely animal"  
  
"I'm so glad I amuse you," Sage muttered.  
  
"You all do. You can all be very childish at points, the snowball fights for instance; but you are also very adult at times, the countless noises I hear at night from bedrooms being the case and point." He was surprised to see that almost all the boys flushed with embarrassment, except Sage who just turned his head away in partial shame. "Did you somehow think I did not know?"  
  
"We were sort of hoping," Cye began. "I mean, until today, you were just a tiger to us."  
  
"A tiger with a very keen nose," the man explained. "It would have been difficult to not notice that some personal scents were blending together to the point where it is almost hard to distinguish person from person."  
  
  
  
The discussion continued for some time. Each boy would ask a collection of questions to White Blaze, loving the chance that he could finally reply to them. His voice was a smooth, deep baritone, and that was also something that they all knew they were going to miss once he had returned to his usual form. His voice could carry them back in time very quickly as he told them stories of his travels while being the tiger.  
  
The tales and questions went long into the afternoon, and they only stopped for a short while so that they could eat some of the venison that White Blaze had brought back. It amazed the boys that he had impeccable table manners; more refined then Sage's even. Then again, he had come from earlier era, long before a new, more laid back culture had settled in.  
  
It saddened the boys to learn that they only had until sunset before White Blaze would change back, so the tried to spend as much time with him as possible. They tried to get in many questions and loved listening to his stories.  
  
"One thing I want to know," Cye began. "Is what had happened to you when I found you draped in our dirty clothing yesterday."  
  
"Ah," the man nodded his head. "I was tired, my body was getting ready to change and I wanted to have at least something to cover myself with. Besides, have you never seen a cat do that before?"  
  
"Well, no," Cye explained. "I'm also guessing that the damage to the drapes in the living room was also a surge of animal instincts." Cye hoped so, he had loved those drapes.  
  
"Actually, no," the man confessed. "I do apologize Cye, but there are indeed times where I wonder about your fashion sense. Pink and green drapes should not go in a room where the furniture is mostly tan leather."  
  
Cye frowned and huffily threw a pillow at the man's head. He was hardly surprised to see it grabbed deftly out of the air, without the slightest effort.  
  
A short while later, the man started to yawn almost uncontrollably. He managed to cover his mouth and preserve proper decorum, but it was clear that his time was running out and he was getting ready to change forms again. The others left while Ryo stayed behind a moment to ask one more thing. "Will we ever get to see you like this again?"  
  
"Sweet child," the man began gently as he kissed Ryo's forehead tenderly. "When you wake, I will have already returned to the form you know very well. The next time that I will appear as I am now will not be until long after you have joined the others who have worn the armor in eternal sleep."  
  
Ryo hugged him, not wanting to let go and say good-bye to a newly made friend. "I would not wish your job for all the magic in the world."  
  
"Nor would I wish any other to have it. I can be very hard to take care of so many children."  
  
  
  
When White Blaze next awoke, he stretched out his back and yawned, his mouth open wide. Oh well, I should go out and get something to eat, the litter will be up soon.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Well, was that too long, too short, did it answer all the questions? Let me know-thanks. And a special thanks to everyone who reviewed and being willing to come back and keep reading. 


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